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BALLET THEATER: PAUL TAYLOR'S 'SUNSET'

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AMERICAN BALLET THEATER presented Paul Taylor's modern-dance work ''Sunset'' as a local company premiere Tuesday night at the Metropolitan Opera House - a performance that raised even more questions about the piece than the world premiere by Mr. Taylor's own company did in 1983.

The only thing upon which viewers could then agree was that the work was danced by six men in military uniforms with red berets and by four women in white dresses. The musical score was made up of Edward Elgar's ''Serenade for Strings'' and ''Elegy for Strings.'' The two compositions were separated by a recording of loon calls, here credited to a tape by William E. Barklow of the National Audubon Society.

These haunting bird cries accompany what is obviously a dream or vision scene, and the interpretation of this scene determines the meaning of the work.

Is ''Sunset'' a wistful enounter between soldiers away from home and some local girls in a park? Is the loon-call scene, in which tenderness is obvious among the couples, an added dimension to this ode to young love shadowed by fate?

Or, as Mr. Taylor's own dancers tend to emphasize, is the loon scene a premonition of death on the battlefield as experienced by one of the soldiers and then acted out by the others? If so, there is a more tragic import to the end when the soldiers leave and a woman clutches the beret dropped by one of the men.

Ballet Theater's dancers do a very good job here, but as is common with ballet dancers performing modern-dance movement whose style they have not completely assimilated, a few problems occur. In this case it is that the dancers break up Mr. Taylor's seamless movement phrases into steps.

The question of meaning in ''Sunset'' is further compounded when the choreography is turned into neutral steps with the dancers imposing acting on top of the movement. At the same time - and this is the surprise - the work is danced more clearly because it is broken down.

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For instance, when Dana Stackpole clambers up and down the backs of the men, her playful gestures are very sharply delineated. As a man reaches to touch her hand, she withdraws it, and this innocent game does much to define the nature of the encounter on view.

Similarly, Mr. Taylor's ingenious use of natural gesture is brought into relief in the male duet, here danced by Robert Hill and John Summers, in which the men move with hands in their pockets or adjust their clothes and shoelaces. What Mr. Hill and Mr. Summers do so forcefully here is to bring out the friendship of the men -they may do so by stopping dead and staring into each other's eyes a bit longer than the Taylor dancers do, but they make the point.

The Ballet Theater women look less youthful, more sensual, than the Taylor women, and yet Ms. Stackpole, Gabrielle Brown, Cynthia Anderson and, in the primary role, Kathleen Moore, are all convincing.

Alex Katz's once-breathtaking set looks less than breathtaking on the huge Met stage. Its leaf-blown backdrop and tilted panel with the same motif and a guard rail looked both abstract and realistic originally. Now it all looks more like conventional decor. Yet Jennifer Tipton's lighting moves the drama along aptly, and the choreography, of course, holds its own interest.

The production, staged by Lila York, enthusiastically received and funded by a patron, Mrs. William S. Lasdon, was certainly worth a try. It gives Mr. Taylor's works even greater exposure and it challenges Ballet Theater's dancers. Again, it is Johan Renvall - the soldier who has the vision - who adapts best to a modern-dance idiom with his supple body and superb jumps. But the entire cast, including John Gardner, Craig Wright and Ross Yearsley, deserve A for effort. Charles Barker conducted.

The program opened with new faces in one of the most poetic ballets in existence - Sir Frederick Ashtons's ''Les Rendezvous.'' Deirdre Carberry and Wes Chapman as the lead couple blew in a fresh breeze. She has the right piquant manner as well as an ever-impressive technique. He has an elegance, coupled with a brilliant underlying precision, that makes every difficulty look easy. Mr. Chapman made his solos very special - never dancing for effect but creating an impact through the quality of his classical style. Mr. Gardner accompanied Amy Rose and Robert Wallace in their cheerful debuts in the pas de trois. The program included a repeat of ''Paquita,'' in which it was a pleasure to see Cynthia Gregory, in fine form and grand in manner, with Ross Stretton.

A version of this review appears in print on June 4, 1987, on Page C00015 of the National edition with the headline: BALLET THEATER: PAUL TAYLOR'S 'SUNSET'. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe